You know that look. That look is never a good look. You look at the table, you look at the books, you look at the couch. You look at anything and everything to avoid that look. The look she gives you that shatters your heart. The look that lets you know you messed up again. You hurt her with something you did or said.
She won’t say anything about it. You know that. She isn’t one to fight. She will turn back to her book in just a moment, though she won’t make it more than five pages before she puts it down. You rack your brain, trying to think of what you had said. You, normally so careful with your words, had said something foolish to hurt her.
You want to apologize, but you need to know what you’re apologizing for first. You had been talking of designing a new dress for her. She had said something about wearing one of the dresses she already owned. And you had said…
“I didn’t mean it that way, darling,” you tell her. “I doubt your dress size has changed at all. I meant the dresses you have wouldn’t fit the occasion.”
She looks up at you, her purple eyes betraying her feelings. “Oh. I thought I would wear the dress you made me for my birthday last year. I haven’t had a chance to wear it since, and it would be nice for a garden party, wouldn’t it?”
You lick your lips and pick your words carefully again before speaking. “What I had hoped was to design a new one especially for the occasion. It will be practical, I promise.”
She shifts slightly on the couch and frowns into her book. “Okay then.”
That look is still there. Had that not been what had caused it in the first place. You close your eyes and think back, but nothing comes to mind. With an inward sigh, you scoot to the cushion next to her. “What is bothering you, dear?”
She glances at you before reverting her eyes to the book again. “Nothing.”
You lick your lips again. “Please tell me. We need to talk about these things. Otherwise, they build up until they explode. We don’t want…” You trail off as she sits the book onto the coffee table in front of you.
Then she sniffs. You wrap your hooves around her, pulling her as close to you as you can. “I am so sorry,” you say before you know what it is you’ve done. It is rare for her to cry like this. She shifts her head so that it is lying on your shoulder as you stroke her mane.
“You’ll think it’s silly. I was just thinking about the garden party tomorrow. For them, for their anniversary. And…I want that.”
She pulls away from you, and you can feel your heart beating faster. “You do?”
“I do,” she whispers.
Thousands of thoughts fly through your mind. She wants what they have. She wants that with you. Breathing becomes a harder task as the full depth of what she’s asking hits you. You look into her eyes as a smile spreads across your face. “I want that to.”
You lean in and press your lips to hers, revealing in the emotion she puts into in. You pull her close again, so close you can feel her frantic heart beat. After a moment, you pull away. “I love you, darling.”
She rest her forehead against yours and similes. “I love you, too.”